Antonian follows milestone win with rivalry win

Stephen Molina led the Apaches to a 71-57 victory over rival Central Catholic, giving their head coach Rudy Bernal his 601th win of his career. Molina finished with 21 points for Antonian.

Stephen Molina led the Apaches to a 71-57 victory over rival Central Catholic, giving their head coach Rudy Bernal his 601th win of his career. Molina finished with 21 points for Antonian.

Photo: Billy Calzada / San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Billy Calzada / San Antonio Express-News

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Stephen Molina led the Apaches to a 71-57 victory over rival Central Catholic, giving their head coach Rudy Bernal his 601th win of his career. Molina finished with 21 points for Antonian.

Stephen Molina led the Apaches to a 71-57 victory over rival Central Catholic, giving their head coach Rudy Bernal his 601th win of his career. Molina finished with 21 points for Antonian.

Photo: Billy Calzada / San Antonio Express-News

Antonian follows milestone win with rivalry win

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The last time Antonian took the court, it gave head coach Rudy Bernal the 600th win of his career.

No. 601 meant even more to the Apaches and their second-year head coach.

Antonian built a big lead and held off rival Central Catholic 71-57 in a TAPPS District 2-6A game Thursday night at Northside Sports Gym. It was the first district win for the Apaches and snapped a 14-game winning streak for the Buttons, who won by nine points when the teams met Jan. 5.

“I was proud about the 600th win, but it wasn’t against our rival,” Antonian guard Darian Washington said. “So I’d say this one is a whole lot better.”

The 61-year-old Bernal, who coached Lanier for 31 seasons and took over the Antonian program midway through last season, agreed with that assessment. His Apaches (22-9, 1-2 district) earned their first league win and, thanks to Washington and fellow left-handed guard Stephen Molina, threatened to win running away.

Washington, a junior guard who scored a game-high 22 points off the bench, drained a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter to help Antonian build a 32-21 halftime lead. The senior guard Molina was even more productive in the third quarter, hitting a trio of 3s and scoring 15 points to help the Apaches build a 53-27 lead entering the fourth.

Molina finished with 21 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

“I started feeling it,” Molina said. “The guys started getting me the ball, and I just started knocking down 3s. Before I knew it we were up by 26.”

Then, before the Apaches knew it, the Buttons (24-8, 3-1) surged back into the game. Central Catholic’s Grant Kellar scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, with his third 3 making it 60-52 with a little less than two minutes remaining.

But Central Catholic, which also got 11 points from Noah Salinas and 10 from Nathan Payet, could get no closer as Washington went 7 of 8 from the free-throw line while adding a layup during the final 90 seconds.

“We came back in the fourth quarter and showed what we really were,” Kellar said. “It happens to every team, but we’re still in the playoffs.”

Central Catholic, fifth in the Express-News rankings, already had clinched the title in the three-team district that also includes Antonian and Brownsville St. Joseph. St. Anthony was slated to be in the district as well but withdrew from TAPPS in early December, meaning all three remaining teams were assured of reaching the postseason before district play began.